What Happened Last Night
by itsaweirdlife
Summary: Nick isn't convinced that 'nothing happened last night' and, when Jess spills, he decides to make it right. Spoilers for episode 1x15 'Injured.


"Hey Jess? What happened last night?" asked Nick uncertainly in the back of Winston's 'car'. Jess looked him straight in the eye with a strange look on her face and gave him a small smile before answering sweetly. "Nothing."

"Okay." he replied smiling back.

The four friends left Winston's dead car and started walking home. Nick and Jess shared another smile and followed Cece and Schmidt in front of them, not waiting for Winston who was saying goodbye to his car. Nick had a strange feeling that he was missing something big. Truth be told, he didn't know whether it was still the pills acting on him after the night on the beach. However he felt like something happened last night with Jess. For example, now, while they walked home quietly chatting about how relieved they were and how scary that had been, he really wanted to take her hand. Had he done something stupid while on pain pills? If he had, he was sure glad that he could not remember; he didn't need another reason to bang his head against the wall. Especially with Jess: she was too important to him. He would rather leave things like that than lose his best friend. So they continued walking in silence, the sleepiness catching up with them.

Once they arrived at the loft, everyone immediately made a turn for their rooms, all too tired to question Cece going to sleep in Schmidt's room. As Winston disappeared, Nick and Jess lingered in between their rooms.

"Sooo..." started Jess.

"So..." replied Nick smiling shyly and looking down before continuing. "I guess I should thank ya."

Jess frowned slightly. "Thank me for what?"

"Uhm, well... you know. For taking care of me, I guess." he finally replied rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Even though I guess I wouldn't have ended up at your gynecologist's if you hadn't tackled me in the first place..."

Jess chuckled softly and smiled coyly. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Oh, it's fine. I probably did more things in the last 24 hours than I did in the last ten years of my life anyway, so... thanks, Jess."

"It's okay, Nick." smiled again Jess, this time blushing slightly as she moved her weight from foot to foot. Nick didn't say anything anymore and an awkward silence ensued, not being helped by the fact that Nick was pretty much staring at Jess.

"So, guess we should get some sleep and shake the sand off our bodies, uh?" Jess gestured to her room.

"Yeah, we should probably do that." agreed Nick, without moving.

"Alright then." awkwardly said Jess. "Goodnight, Nick" she nodded towards him and turned to enter her room, but Nick grabbed her elbow and forced her to turn back around again.

"Hey, Jess?" He was looking at her weird again and she could feel a warmth spreading from the point where his hand was touching her and reaching her face.

"Mmm?" was all Jess could muster, all flushed and wide-eyed.

"Are you sure nothing happened last night?" he whispered, staring intensely in her eyes.

"Yeah, I mean no, I mean some things happened obviously, but you know, usual stuff. We were at the bar and you said your funeral was your time to shine and I wasn't allowed to speak because I don't know how to be real, then there was some weird rapping and then we went to the ocean and you dived in and it was cold and you said you were not okay, then you said you liked me and liked having me around and then we fell asleep on the beach." The words tumbled out of Jess's mouth as she looked at her shoes and her face became a scarlet color. Nick was still gripping her elbow.

"Oh." replied simply Nick who obviously didn't remember any of it and seemed embarrassed. "Okay."

"Okay?" she said back bewildered, her eyebrows lifting.

"Yeah." he said, losing his grip on Jess's arm.

"Oh. Okay" she replied finally in a small voice, feeling disappointed for reasons she didn't understand. Nick had also lowered his gaze, so she simply turned around and went into her room, closing the door behind her. After discarding her dusty clothes, Jess climbed on the bed and wrapped herself in a blanket, making herself small. An incredible sadness had crept over her and she felt stupid, cause her best friend had just found out that he didn't have cancer, and she should feel beyond happy. Cursing her moodiness she blamed it on exhaustion and closed her eyes, one single tear escaping down her cheek.

In the hallway Nick stood dumbfounded.

"Great. You've hurt her feelings." he muttered under his breath as he turned around and entered his room to get some rest as well.

A few hours later Nick woke with an uneasy feeling. After all that had happened in the last day he did not have any problem falling asleep, but his sleep was troubled. His mind kept playing tricks on him and showing him pictures of himself and Jess on the beach and what could have happened. He promised himself that he would go talk to Jess after a much needed shower to clear his muddled thoughts.

Nick knocked on Jess's door. "Hey Jess?" No answer. "Jess, can I talk to you, please?" He didn't receive a reply again so he cracked the door open and looked inside to see if Jess was there.

Jess awoke slowly to a noise coming from near her.

"Jess?"

She turned around confusedly, finding an innocent looking Nick Miller looking at her from the door.

"Nick? What are you doing?" asked Jess coming to a seated position on the bed.

"Can I come in? I have, um, some things to say." Nick avoided her gaze. She had been obviously still sleeping in a tank top and leggings and her bed head looked incredibly soft and sexy despite not having showered yet.

"Err, okay, yeah, come in." she replied as she tucked in her knees to her torso and brought the blanket up to her neck and arms.

Nick closed the door and approached the bed slowly, sitting on the edge. He couldn't help but notice that her eyes were a bit red.

"Jess, have you been crying?" he asked furrowing his brows.

"What? No!" she replied, her hands going up to her face and finding instead an unexpected dampness. "Oh."

"Jess, I came to apologize."

"You did?" the surprise in her voice stung Nick a bit.

"Yeah. I don't remember last night, but I probably was a jerk to you and I'm sorry. It's not true, that you don't know how to be real. You're the realest person I know. You sing and dance and do Duffy Duck impressions and you don't let anyone tell you who to be. That's really brave, you know." Nick paused and tentatively looked at Jess, whose eyes were bigger than usual and was wearing a surprised expression.

"Wow, Nick." she offered a timid small smile, which he mirrored. "It was really nice of you to tell me that."

"And, err, also, I'm sorry about earlier. I did mean those other things I said. You know... that, um, I like ya and that you're around. It's cool." Nick mentally cringed at his last words. Why did he always have to ruin things? He avoided looking to the side at a smiling Jess. "Please say something..." he begged after a few seconds scrunching up his face.

"Nick...!" Jess whispered. She was left speechless by this sudden show of emotion on her roommate's part, who was currently clenching and unclenching his fists on her mattress and looked like he was about to dive forward and make a run for his room. So she slowly leaned forward, balancing on her toes, and placed one hand on his left hand while the other went to cup his cheek, turning his face towards hers. Nick could feel his heart hammering in his chest and he felt like his breathing had accelerated and stopped at the same time. As they briefly stared into each other's eyes, he noticed that Jess's eyes were moist. He desperately wanted to make a move, to lean forward and kiss her like he had wanted since she had moved into the loft, but his body was frozen. So, slowly, it was Jess who wound her arms around Nick's neck, hugging him softly. It took Nick a moment to understand what they were doing and react, his arms going around Jess's waist as he breathed in her intoxicating smell. Today she smelled like sea salt mixed with her usual sweet vanilla scent. Slowly, he adjusted his body to face hers and hugged her more tightly, with more of their bodies now pressed together. He felt Jess breath in and sigh on his shoulder, before turning her head to fit in the crook of his neck.

"That was really sweet, Nick." she whispered in his ear. "I'm really really glad that you're okay." Her voice broke on the last word. Nick pulled back slowly, maintaining his hands on her waist, offering a reassuring smile back to her shy watery one.

"Me too, Jess. I'm okay." he reassured her quietly. Jess nodded and went to place a kiss on his cheek to end their conciliation, but at the last moment Nick turned his face and Jess's lips hit the side of his mouth. She pulled back a bit and looked at Nick, still so close. It was now her turn to feel her heart hammering in her chest as Nick repeated those words in a low husky voice. "I like you, Jess." Jess's lips fell open a bit and her eyes were hooded and somewhat woozy. "I like you a lot," he repeated almost inaudibly as he leaned forward incredibly slow before pressing his lips to hers. They were both breathing rapidly and he was about to pull back in defeat, when Jess finally answered to the kiss. The corners of Nick's mouth turned upwards against Jess's lips and he deepened the kiss. One of his hands tangled in Jess's curls and the other pulled her close at the waist, while Jess's arms quickly found their way back around his neck and into his hair. Jess moaned a bit when Nick broke the kiss and started kissing along the jaw and down her neck as he gently laid her back and pinned her to the mattress. "I like you-so-much," he kept muttering in between kisses.

"Nick?" Jess interrupted out of breath and with swollen lips, gently pushing Nick back by the shoulders. The man looked down into her eyes solemnly. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Nick cupped her face with one hand and caressed her soft flushed cheek with his thumb. "After last night? I've never been more sure. Remember what you asked me last night, Jess? If I could do anything, this is the only thing I'd want to do for the rest of my days." Jess smiled widely underneath him. "But only if you want it too." He finished with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Really, Miller? Come back here, doll." she playfully replied pulling at his flannel shirt, and a grin-plastered Nick did not object the order, returning his lips to Jess's.


End file.
